The latest trend of electronic cigarettes has currently been studied and proven to be just as addictive as regular cigarettes.
In a new study done by the Center for Tobacco Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, researchers analyzed data from 2011 and 2012 through a survey questioning students in grades six through twelve nationwide.
The survey asked the students if they have smoked the electronic alternative, regular cigarettes or both, NPR reports.
Although many users believe that e-cigarettes are not as addictive and can easily prevent teenagers from using regular tobacco products, this study showed that the use of these cigarettes increased from 3.3 percent to 6.8 in 2011 and 2012. The number of smokers in general, according to the survey, declined slightly from 5 percent in 2011 to 4 percent in 2012.
The relationship between the tobacco usages also increased when 57 percent of teens who tried cigarettes also tried e-cigarettes.
The common myth is that electronic cigarettes are not as addictive as the normal type because they don’t burn tobacco. However, a battery instead heats up a liquid form of nicotine and turns it into an addictive vapor inhaled into the lungs.
The director of the Center for Disease Control, Dr. Tom Frieden, said that this increase in usage is “alarming.”
“The adolescent human brain may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of nicotine because it is still developing,” he said.
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